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Nervous Nelly Rides a Bike

Nervous Nelly Rides a Bike

Lisa Eirene

About Lisa Eirene Lisa lost 110 pounds through calorie counting and exercise. She swims, bikes, runs, hikes and is enjoying life in Portland, Oregon. Her weight loss story has been featured in First Magazine, Yahoo Health, Woman's Day and Glamour.com.

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14 Comments

  1. Becky

    I went for a bike ride with my man last night as well! It was perfect weather for it, and it was nice to spend some time with him. I live in the suburbs a bit and am really close to a bunch of trails so I don’t have to contend with too much traffic, but I am still nervous when I have cars coming up behind me! I always try to bike really fast to get off the main roads and onto the trails where I am safer.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      It was such a nice night last night in Portland! The bike ride was fun. I got over my nervousness after awhile but it does take some getting used to.

  2. Kristina @ spabettie

    I am a nervous cyclist in the city too… I have many friends in “cycling groups” like ZooBomb, bike messengers and VDBR (vegan dinner bike ride!!), and through them learn of all the accidents involving cyclists and cars, etc. It’s a lot!! Two friends last summer were hit while cycling.

    I love to ride my mountain bike in Forest Park, and now that I don’t live up there I DRIVE to Westover and bike up… I’m a weenie! ๐Ÿ™‚

    I love Springwater Corridor too!

    I was outside enjoying the sun last night too – SO excited for summer!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m really excited for summer to get here!

      I HATE hearing about cyclists getting hurt. I get so anxious about that because Michael bike commutes and so do other friends. It just stresses me out.

  3. Lori

    Nice ride!

    I don’t like riding in the streets at all, but it is a necessary evil to get to our bike paths. There are some bike lanes, which make me a little nervous because the cars go 55 on that road (but it leads to cupcakes!). It gets better the more you do it, but you just never let your guard down.

    I have had a lot of close calls. John actually got hit by a car years ago that turned right at a corner in front of him when he was going straight. At least it was slow speed and he only ended up on top of the hood with a few cuts and bruises. The bike needed a little repair, though. The guy just wasn’t paying attention.

    My worst accident was a head on collision with another biker when I was in my mid 20s. Ouch. I jogged one way to avoid a pothole and the other biker didn’t notice and was going too fast and we hit. Bent my bike frame and I had massive bruises on my thighs from hitting the handlebars. His bike was unusable after that.

    My motto on the bike – trust no one.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      YIKES!!! That is really scary. I am always aware, always looking. I am hyper sensitive to what is around me. I also see a lot of drivers doing stupid things and not paying attention to cyclist. That makes me really mad!!

      Last summer Michael and I crashed but the bikes were okay and besides being pretty bruised and sore, I was okay too. I still prefer bike trails.

  4. Beth @ Beth's Journey

    I love biking outside too, but HATE doing it around cars! I have to cross a busy street to get to my trail, but after I cross that street I don’t have to ride at all with cars – just runners, walkers, and other cyclists. It must have been so nice to be outside last night!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      My plan is to commute to work by bike a few days a week. Soon I’ll give it a trial run and start practicing. I am REALLY anxious about it. Most of the commute will be on neighborhood streets and bike trails until I get to downtown Portland. The plus side: downtown Portland has a lot of big bike lanes. The bad side: when drivers get downtown they turn into MANIACS and drive like idiots. It’s super dangerous.

  5. marie

    I haven’t been on a bike in years, and I really don’t believe it’s “like a riding a bike.”

    And the whole clipping your feet to the pedals? Because that sounds like a good idea. Oh, here, I’ll anchor my feet down, that way if I fall, we’ll all go down together and I’ll land on my FACE. Perfect!

    …but it looks like it was a lovely ride!

    1. Lisa Eirene

      You bring up a good topic: Michael clips in. I have some cycling shoes I’ve never used because they don’t match the clip-in pedals I bought. So I don’t clip in. I feel more comfortable being able to get free of my bike easily. I WAS planning on buying new shoes so I could spend this past winter practicing clipping in and out while on the bike trainer…but I never did. Maybe next winter.

      And honestly, my doc said it’s not a good idea for people with IT Band issues to clip in because it can irritate the knee…

  6. Carbzilla

    What a fun night!

    I’m a Nervous everything…I won’t let Chris bike commute, I won’t hike through our local park by myself…then Chris is always telling me to “Be careful!” even if I’m just running to the store. I think we definitely need to loosen up a little, while still being a bit cautious.

    1. Lisa Eirene

      I’m a nervous everything too! One thing I HATE about summertime: Michael bike commuting. It makes me so stressed and anxious. And he thinks it’s silly. UGH!

  7. steena

    I’m also a nervous biker, I’m too scared to do the clip-ins for now too. At least YOU have a helmet, hahaha, I don’t! Bad, bad, bad, reallly bad! ๐Ÿ™‚

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